BANGKOK -- Embattled President Abdurrahman Wahid is still the best
leader Indonesia could have at the moment, East Timorese leader Jose Ramos
Horta said on Friday.

He said Abdurrahman, who has faced an increasingly hostile parliament
during his 10 months in office, should be allowed to consolidate the
country's democratic gains after the fall of former president Suharto.

Ramos Horta told reporters here that he was "saddened and
disturbed" by the violence wracking independence-seeking Indonesian
provinces, and called for a peaceful solution to the crisis.

He said Indonesia's problems were the result of Suharto's decades of
iron-fisted rule, and not the fault of Abdurrahman.

"Gus Dur cannot undo in one day the colossal damage done to
Indonesia by 32 years of dictatorship, of abuse by the military," he
said, using the president's nickname.

"I hope the politicians will realise that Gus Dur is the best
president they can have. What Indonesia needs today is a good man, not a
strongman," he said.

Ramos Horta cautioned against the political implications for the region
if Indonesia's problems get out of hand.

"Indonesia is too important in the region for us to ignore,"
he said. "If democracy consolidates in Indonesia, we can all sleep in
peace."

Ramos Horta is in Bangkok as an official guest of the Thai government
which is hosting the annual ASEAN foreign ministers' meeting from Monday.

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